Topic starter
29/07/2015 4:38 pm
Benedictine spread...a cucumber based spread... was invented in Louisville by Jennie Benedict who had a restaurant at the turn of the 20th century. Her establishment was the meeting place for all the society folks in Louisville. She must have been quite a gal, way ahead of her time. She ran her restaurant, wrote a homemakers column in the Courier Journal, and was quite active in aiding orphans and neglected children.
So what does she have to do with steamboats? She was selected to christen the big, fast sidehwheel CITY OF LOUISVILLE when it was launched in 1894. She rode over to Howard's Shipyard on the BOSTONIA, climbed up on the new hull, broke the bottle champagne over the bow and rode the boat down the ways and into the river.
So now if you're ever on JEOPARDY and the final question is "who christened the famous boat CITY OF LOUISVILLE?" You can answer "Jennie Benedict the inventor of Benedictine spread".
(you can tell it's way too hot for me to go out and cut the grass, since I'd rather sit here in the a/c on the ol' lap top and write meaningless trivia on .org.)
29/07/2015 5:33 pm
Benedictine spread
Thank you for posting this. I had to look up the recipe: Benedictine Spread Recipe | Taste of Home
01/08/2015 3:30 pm
This reminds me that I haven't had any Benedictine since C.W. and Lucy held sway over Rock Hill. I'll have to try and remedy that soon.
BTW, great trivia, Jim!
Topic starter
02/08/2015 12:06 am
yes, in Louisville, elegance was serving Benedictine to your guests, especially on white bread with the crust cut off, followed by that low cholesterol, low fat desert, charlotte ruse. It's a good combination, try it sometime.